Clara Zepeda
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, September 22, 2022, p. fifteen
The number of births registered in Mexico increased in 2021, for the first time since 2010, with an increase of 17.4 percent compared to 2020, up to one million 912 thousand 178 births, revealed the Statistics of Registered Births 2021. However, population growth continues to decline.
According to statistical data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), the number of births registered in the country increased, after a decade, but the figure is the second lowest, after that of 2020, since there was a record in 1994. The foregoing in a pandemic context since March 2020, when the confinement of people was presented to avoid contagion.
However, the institute specified that of the registered births, 61.3 percent (one million 171 thousand 953) occurred in 2021; while 26.4 percent (504 thousand 677) in 2020 and the complement in previous years.
Due to the above, the total number of births that occurred in 2021 was one million 171 thousand 953, which represented a decrease of 30 percent (502 thousand 295 births) compared to 2020 (one million 674 thousand 248) and was the highest number low since 2012 reported by Inegi.
In 2021, the rate of registered births per thousand women of reproductive age was 55.6. The increase was 7.7 units compared to 2020, but remained below historical levels.
The states with the highest rates were Chiapas with 99.8, Guerrero 72.5 and Zacatecas 67.9. In contrast, those that reported a decrease were Mexico City, Yucatán and Baja California Sur, with 37.4, 43.6 and 45.5, respectively.
Last year, mothers between the ages of 20 and 29 at the time of birth accounted for 51.4 percent of all registered births. Among those under 15 years of age, 6,476 (0.34 percent).
The education levels that mothers reported the most at the time of registration were secondary school or equivalent, with 660 thousand 154 cases (34.5 percent) and high school or equivalent, with 475 thousand 821 cases (24.9 percent). Meanwhile, professional women reached 270 thousand 378 births, 14.1 percent of the cases.
Of the mothers, 60.3 percent (one million 152 thousand 255) declared not to work at the time of registration; while 32.8 percent (628 thousand 91) reported that they did and 6.9 percent (131 thousand 832) did not specify their activity status.
Unlike women, the percentage of men who declared working at the time of registration reached 84.8 percent (one million 622 thousand 179); 14.1 percent (268,508) did not specify their condition and 1.1 percent said they did not work.
Free union was the marital status most declared by the mothers at the time of registration, with 987 thousand 452 (51.6 percent) cases, followed by those who stated they were married, with 458 thousand 275 (24 percent).
